CKS: Arizona is tied for third in the NFL with 19 sacks and the

AUBURN, Ala. -- Danjel Purifoy and Jared Harper each scored 19 points, Horace Spencer added 12 points and Auburn topped Georgia State 83-65 on Monday night in the opening round of the Cancun Challenge.Auburn (2-0) pulled away in the second half as its shooting, which had been an issue in the first 20 minutes, picked up. They shot 56 percent in the second half to put away the Panthers, who were undone by a combination of turnovers and cold shooting.I thought we were very stagnant in the first half, much better in the second half, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. Its probably one of the better second-half defenses weve had. The defense was really good away from us tonight.Georgia State finished with 18 turnovers, which Auburn turned into 16 points.Purifoy was plagued with foul trouble early, and had to come out just three minutes into the game, and he didnt return for the rest of the half. But he scored 17 points in the second half to help propel the Tigers to a second consecutive win.The first half was tightly contested. Each team had trouble holding onto the ball, turning it over a combined 23 times -- 15 of which the Panthers were responsible for. Then, Harper canned two 3-pointers in the final two minutes to give Auburn a five-point lead at the break. It sparked the Tigers offense, and that carried over into the final frame.Every time they needed a play, they went to the point guard, said Georgia State coach Ron Hunter. I thought he was really, really special. He really set the tone for their team, you know, makes those other guys better.Jeremy Hollowell led Georgia State (1-1) with 20 points and four rebounds. Justin Seymour added 18 points and six rebounds for the Panthers.BIG PICTUREGeorgia State: The Panthers dropped their first game of the season, but theyll continue the Cancun Challenge with a chance to rebound.Auburn: Bruce Pearls squad keeps the undefeated start to the season rolling as his young team gains some much-needed experience.HE SAID ITHe was just all teeth. You couldnt get him to stop smiling, and thats something good to see because we got that win for him. He really wanted this win. -- Auburn forward Danjel Purifoy on center LaRon Smith, who played at Georgia State from 2012-14.HIGHLIGHT REELWith Auburn holding onto an 11-point lead and under four minutes remaining, guard T.J. Dunans picked off an errant pass and took it the length of the floor. He whipped a behind-the-back pass to a trailing Horace Spencer, who thundered home a monstrous two-handed dunk that sent Auburn Arena into a frenzy.UP NEXTGeorgia State travels to Purdue on Thursday to take on another Power 5 opponent.Auburn looks to start 3-0 this season when the Tigers host Eastern Kentucky on Thursday. Ecco Shoes Clearance Uk . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. Cheap Ecco Shoes Online . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. http://www.cheapeccouk.com/ . The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Lions have not announced the hiring, which was first reported by ESPN. Lombardi, the grandson of former Green Bay Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, has been an offensive assistant on Sean Paytons New Orleans staff since 2007. Ecco Outlet Uk . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup. Ecco Shoes Sale Uk .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. The WWE is a very healthy business. We actually know this because, unlike any other major North American sports league or organization, the pro wrestling body of record is a public company.Lets take a look at the eye-popping numbers.? Revenues grew by more than 20 percent last year to an all-time record of $658 million.? With its Raw and SmackDown Live franchises, combined with its developmental NXT, the company put on 273 live events in the U.S. alone, where 1.6 million people paid an average of $53.22 to get into the arena.Putting those numbers into greater perspective, the WWE -- considered to be a touring business -- sold more tickets in 2015 than Fleetwood Mac, Maroon 5, Def Leppard and Ariana Grande, according to entertainment business tracking firm Pollstar.? Two-thirds of the companys revenue comes from media, which was worth $231.1 million last year, including more than $130 million in TV rights deals that will grow to $235 million by 2018.? Raw counts as the longest-running weekly episodic program in prime-time TV history, on the air since 1993. We have more of a female audience than people think, said WWE chief strategy and financial officer George Barrios. As much as 40 percent of our fans are women, which is lower than the U.S. population at 52 percent, but if you think of sheer numbers, we have more women watching our shows than Oxygen and Lifetime.? The WWE Network has 1.5 million subscribers paying $9.99 a month to get live fight content as well as archival footage and scripted and reality shows. To put that into context, the only direct-to-consumer content businesses that surpass that are Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Major League Baseball. Its the WWEs second-biggest business, but is its fastest growing.? Net revenues from the WWE Network rose from $69.5 million to $138.8 million from 2014 to 2015, and because pay-per-view events are included in the network subscription, pay-per-view, a $82.5 million business in 2013, dropped to $20.6 million in 2015.? WWE is the No. 1 most-subscribed-to YouTube channel in the sports category, with more than 12 million fans taking in more than 10 billion video views in the past year. In 2010, Vince [McMahon] sat down our executive team and challenged us every day to be a little bit more digital, a little by more direct to consumer and a little bit more global, Barrios said. Five years ago, our business was 5 percent digital. Its now 33 percent. Our international business is up 40 percent and now makes up 26 percent of our sales.? Vince McMahon made $3.3 million in total compensation last year, which is peanuts compared to the 39.2 million shares of stock he owns, which was worth $800 million when the market opened Wednesday. Paul Triple H Levesque, his son-in-law, made $3.1 million in 2015. Levesques wife, Stephanie McMahon, even though she is the chief brand officer, is not listed as being compensated as an executive, although she does own 1.9 million shares (as of April), which are worth $38.6 million today. According to the WWE, the average main-roster performer earns $500,000, with top performers earning in the seven figures annually.? In 2015, the WWE made $49 million off licensing and another $49 million of in-venue and online merchandise sales. Only Star Wars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise beat out WWE in the action figure sales category. WWE, not the athletes themselves, has the rights to file to get a trademark for names used in the ring to be able to liceense that to merchandise producers.dddddddddddd? John Cena is the most-followed North American athlete on Facebook. His Facebook fan page has 42.2 million likes, which is a million more than what LeBron James (23 million), Maria Sharapova (15.5 million) and Tom Brady (3.7 million) have combined.? The organization created The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), who has grown into Hollywoods biggest action hero.? Talent development has turned into a massive operation with the WWE Performance Center, where 80 percent of the current roster of athletes have been involved in some way. The company is starting to showcase more raw talent like Bin Wang of China and is using the development center to help build a character with great moves and good oratory skills. One step up is NXT, which is an ideal training ground for the wrestlers to get practical experience in front of more intimate crowds as well as allow the WWE to gauge the response of those crowds.Now lets take a look at the challenges:? The only numbers that are not public are what the WWE pays its talent. It does not break out the dollar figures either on salary or revenue split with larger stars, and Barrios said the company has no plan to do so. Theres no wrestlers union, but with Vince McMahon in ultimate control of the plot lines, its hard to believe wrestlers could rise in power enough to even create one.? McMahons longevity is the biggest material risk to the business, and the company even advises shareholders of this fact. Sure, his kids Shane and Stephanie have learned the business and have even become characters like their father. Triple H is firmly entrenched in growing the organizations talent pool. But McMahon has more singular power than any head of any sports organization on the planet. He owns nearly 50 percent of Class B voting stock, but hes getting up in years, turning 71 at the end of the month.? McMahons power understood, the WWE is under more outside pressure than any other major sports organization in that there are investors, who arent necessarily fans, who want to see the numbers grow. Shares rose to their all-time highs after the WWE Network was launched in February 2014. But two months later -- skeptical about forsaking the traditional pay-per-view model for a monthly subscription service -- shares had dropped by 63.5 percent. Today, shares are hovering around a two-year high. So why does McMahon, worth more than $1 billion, subject himself to the woes of Wall Street? Vince appreciates the rigor of what it means to be a public company, Barrios said.? The WWE boasts huge international growth numbers, especially in India. The question is, can those regions be monetized?? The risk associated with athletes is injury, like Seth Rollins recently having to give up his title after a knee injury forced him out of action, but unlike, say, the UFC, the WWE can control the narrative. That makes it easier to make transitions on bad injuries or even a fighter leaving the sport.The WWE is a robust business that has become one of the more interesting companies in the world. We dont get to see behind the curtain when it comes to plot lines, but being able to see the financials more than any organization in North American sports gives us a fascinating peek at how a juggernaut in todays world has to shift its business and cater to the whims of society. ' ' '